SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Food and beverage (F&B) play Jumbo Group announced on Sunday (Jan 24) that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with The Art of Mee Pok to run outlets selling Teochew fishball and minced meat noodles.

The subsidiary, Jumbo Group of Restaurants, will be subscribing for 6,000 ordinary shares for an aggregate consideration for S$6,000 while The Art of Mee Pok will subscribe for 3,998 ordinary shares for S$3,998.

Following the subscription of shares, Jumbo Group of Restaurants will hold a 60 per cent stake in the JV company - JLL F&B Services - while The Art of Mee Pok will hold the remaining 40 per cent. The share capital of the JV company will then increase to S$10,000 from the current S$2.

The JV company will run outlets under the Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim, The Art of Mee Pok, Lau Lim Mee Pok and/or JTKLL tradenames.

The JV company will hold a master licence granted by The Art of Mee Pok to operate outlets under the JTKLL tradename and the JTKLL trademark in Singapore. It will also be granted a unit licence to operate a Teochew F&B outlet under the Chao Ting tradename at Bedok Road.

The group's investment in the JV company will be funded by internal resources and is not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of the group for the current financial year ending Sept 30, 2021.

The Art of Mee Pok was incorporated in 2004, and mainly operates cafes and coffee houses. It also holds the registered trademark of JTKLL in Singapore and Indonesia. It has outlets in Bedok and Queen Street selling Teochew fishball and minced meat noodles, dumplings and carrot cake among other side dishes. The outlets at Bedok and Queen Street are not part of the JV company.

The directors and shareholders are Lim Kim Heong and Sim Poh Tiam. Mr Lim was also founder of The Art of Mee Pok and was later joined by Ms Sim. The company is not related to the directors or controlling shareholders of the Jumbo and their respective associates. As at Jan 24, The Art of Mee Pok, Mr Lim and Ms Sim do not have any interest in the shares of Jumbo.

The firm said none of its directors or substantial shareholders has any interest in the JV company, save for their shareholdings in Jumbo.

Shares of Jumbo ended Friday at S$0.37, up 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.4 per cent.